PARANORMAL ACTIVITY REPORT

Texas Shadow Chasers

San Angelo Texas

(copyright 2008)

The claims of paranormal activity at 334 West Concho Avenue were investigated. The causes for perceived paranormal activity was determined by, sophisticated electromagnetic detection, multi-spectral recording equipment, and digital audio recording devices. Historical records as to history of the house and its previous occupants were researched. The collected and analyzed data of disembodied voices, objects moving without apparent means of force, and unaccounted electromagnetic energy fluctuations provide preponderance of evidence to concluded there is high probability that the house is the home to two ghosts. Ghost number one, a conscious female energy identified as Adcock and ghost number two, a conscious male energy identified as Dobie. The investigation findings are congruent with many individual paranormal experiences reports.

334 West Concho Avenue Paranormal Activity Report

Modern scientific theory states that our universe originated from a single event termed the Big Bang. The Big Bang, according to most physicists and cosmologist was an enormous release of pure energy from a single point that eventually gave rise our present universe. All matter in our universe constructed from atoms that originated out of pure energy liberated during the Big Bang. Some of this energy still radiates in our universe as electromagnetic waves or particles, while other forms of energy bond and cling called electrostatic.

A growing body of paranormal research suggests that finding elevated electromagnetic (EM) or electrostatic (ES) energy fields in a structure may help a paranormal investigator to localize and identify paranormal energy signatures. Finding high EMF and ESF radiation without an apparent source and when supported with other objective observations within a localized area may form what is typically termed haunting by ghost. (E.g., Guiley, R. 2007). Much of this research is influenced by Coulomb’s Law, the force one electrical charge exerts on another. One paranormal activity theory contends that the mode or type of apparent conscious energy interaction between the investigator and the electromotive force suggests paranormal activity.

In the Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Guiley, she writes that most hauntings can be tied to historical events that are unhappy in nature, however there are cases of benign hauntings, and some ghost act in a benevolent way toward the living. Most paranormal researchers recognize two types of haunting, interactive and noninteractive. In a noninteractive haunting the ghost repeats a set activity without regard to the observer, whereas in an interactive haunting, the ghost appears aware of the observer. For the investigation at 334 West Concho Avenue (photograph # 1) our results suggest interactive paranormal activity based on electromotive force detection in correlation to investigator interaction. In essence the investigator framed a question and the ghost answered or responded.

Investigation

Research conducted on the history of 334 West Concho Avenue discovered information useful to this paranormal investigation. Historical landmark documents at the Tom Green County Library record that the house at 334 West Concho Avenue was built between 1904 and 1908. The documents list the original legal description was block-31; lot-8 historical site number 0250. This information makes the house seventeen years older than previously believed and encouraged us to expand our historical research range from 1900 to present. We began by searching for the original owners and earliest official documents available.

A 1910 U.S. population census report shows that 334 West Concho occupied by George T. Lemons, age 49; Jennie Lemons (wife) age 36; Lessie Lemons (daughter) age 14; Mary Lemons (daughter) age 8; Auguste Reinhardt (white female servant) age 21; Charles Paul (white male roomer) age 30; Milburn McCartey (white male roomer) age 42. Apparently the Lemons were financially secure. A mechanic's lien was placed on the structure on March 5, 1913 with C.C. and Lizzie Kirkpatrick and W.A. Bolen et. al. for a two-story frame residence with electrical wiring and plumbing at a cost of $4,305.50. Based on documents, George Lemons died between 1910 and 1915. The 1915 – 1916 Worley's General Directory for San Angelo, Texas shows that Jennie Lemons (widow of George T. Lemons) was the resident and owner of 334 West Concho Ave. Also living at the house was Miss Lessie H. Lemons a student.

The Lemons continued to live at 334 West Concho Avenue for at least another fifteen years. The 1930 population census shows Jennie Lemons still living at the house. Also living in the house was Mary Bell Lemons age 28; Francis N McGuigan, white male lodger, age 24; Paul A Gruetter, white male lodger, age 27; Ellis Harl, white male lodger, age 26; Morris Earl Halstead, white male lodger, age 24. Torential rains from September 13 to 18, 1936 caused widespread flooding along the North Concho River that runs 100 yards southeast of 334 West Concho Photographs leaving over 700 people homeless. The photographs show 336 West Concho Avenue as being half submerged in floodwater. Sometime between 1930 and 1937 the house changes ownership.

Miss Clancy Ellen Baldridge acquired 334 West Concho Ave in 1937. Clancy Baldridge appears in records in 1930 as a 26 year-old, single white female renting a room at 1203 South David Street. At some time between 1930 and 1937 she bought 334 West Concho Avenue. Baldridge a music teacher in San Angelo, lived at the residence until 1972 when her health began to fail and she went into nursing care and later died on April 28, 1973. The property went into conservatership in 1972 and was eventually sold for back taxes in 1980 to Circle T Sports. In 1985 the property was listed as vacant and abandoned. The Tom Green County tax assessor and collector office took possession of the property.

According to public records at the Tom Green County Clerk’s Office the property was given to the San Angelo AIDS Foundation on November 7, 1997. As of January 2008, the house remains the home for the San Angelo AIDS Foundation (SAAF). It is from personal paranormal experiences by staff members of the SAAF that the Texas Shadow Chasers Organization became involved in the investigation.

One report of personal experience comes in the form of a warning. A man doing repair work in the house reports that during a violent storm he was standing in the house looking out of a window. From somewhere behind him he heard a female voice told him to move away from the window. He complied with the order just in time to escape being hit by a softball hailstone that crashed through the window. He turned to find the person who warned him only to find that he was alone in the house. Several people report seeing the ghost of a woman wearing a long dress standing on the stairwell between the first and second floor. The female ghost seems to notice the people around but does bother anyone. Along with seeing the female figure people often report feeling something ice cold passes them on the stairwell. Workers in the house report witnessing music boxes and radios turning on by themselves and objects moving on desks without anyone touching the object. Another caseworker reports that once during a closed-door counseling situation with two other people, the two people in his office noticed and heard the office door rattle as if being pushed and jiggled from the other side.

Paranormal Investigations

There is one major caveat to personal paranormal experiences, they involve very few people, and that there is little or no evidence to support the person's claim. No matter how creditable the person may appear there remains a level of skepticism. The preliminary investigation objective was to find evidence to support the worker’s personal experience either paranormal or normal. This is where the value of paranormal investigation resides, documenting evidence to support or debunk personal experience claims.

On September 14, 2007 a team of seven paranormal investigators from the Texas Shadow Chasers organization conducted a primary survey of 334 West Concho Avenue from 6:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. September 15, 2007. The purpose of a primary survey is to locate or discover ordinary explanations for paranormal activity and to record evidence to support or debunk reports of paranormal activity.

Many claims of paranormal activity have natural and mundane causes. During the primary survey, the team discovered in an office where people felt an invisible presence, the existence of a large EMF field. Using an EMF detector an investigator located an elevated EMF energy field radiating from a multiple-station push-button telephone system. When a human is placed near electromagnetic waves the effect can create within the human mind the illusion of being watched or having an invisible presence nearby. Using a digital infrared thermometer, investigators discovered air conditioning and heating vents in the floor. When the air conditioning turned-on the cool air would lift upward from the vents and then travel downward toward the stairwell creating a marked temperature inversion. The temperature inversion would produce cold spots and the feeling of being touched. The locations of the air conditioning vents were significant to the locations where workers reported feeling cold spots.

Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). Electronic. Voice Phenomena is the recording of voices for which there is no apparent natural or scientific explanation. At 11:45 p.m. a two-person investigation team entered a room code named the clock room because of the loud clicking mechanical clock hanging on the wall within the office. Using an Olympus VN-3100 PC digital recorder, the team began to ask EVP protocol questions.

Question one, "Is there anyone here with us?" To which came the response, "It’s eight o'clock wake up Dobie." The voice captured on the recording sounds like an adult male with a southern drawl.

At 12:15 a.m. two other investigators in the music box room, so named for the music box in the room conducted EVP investigations. An investigator asks, "Can you tell us why you are here?" Twenty-two seconds pass before a very formal female voice is heard saying, "Adcock." The voice captured on the recorder sounds to be female, middle aged, with a Victorian inflection.

Levitation. Levitation is the lifting up into the air of objects, persons, and animals without apparent natural means and in defiance of gravity. During the investigation team’s setup, a member positioned an infrared (IR) video camera on top a desk in an office. The camera was positioned to record activity from a second floor hallway, a location where workers reported seeing the apparition of a woman.

The wireless IR camera transmitted its video signal to a receiver attached to a VHS video tape recorder and monitor located in a first floor conference room where an investigator monitored the video. The camera was mounted to a block of wood for stability. The wooden block measuring one-inch thick by four inches wide by eight inches long. The mounted camera was placed directly on top of the desk surface and positioned to view out of the office door into the hallway. At forty-seven minutes into the investigation the command center investigator noticed that the camera image had changed to a dark spot as if the image sensor had shorted out or overheated. Another investigator was dispatched to the room to determine the cause of the malfunction. Upon entering the room the investigator discovered the camera turned vertical with the lens facing downward. The camera and wooden base were both found moved to the left about one-foot from its original position.

(see the video evidence in our audio video page)

The primary survey investigation objective was to find evidence to support or debunk personal experience claims of paranormal or normal. We debunked claims of cold spots and eerie feelings by attributing them to verifiable natural causes. Accounts of disembodied voices seem strongly supported by captured digital disembodied voices, a male and female, which appeared to answer in response to direct questions from the investigators. Secondly, in an office area where the worker reported objects moving by themselves, the team captured video footage of one’ infrared camera being moved by an unseen force.

Intrateam Review. Accidental mistakes can happen during any investigation. Evidence may get contaminated, lost or improperly handled. Our protocols have team members critically review the collected data for possible inadvertent mistakes. The team reviewed the collected evidence for possible accidental contamination or creating a false-positive detection by an over enthusiastic investigator. False positive EVPs can occur if the sounds and voices caught on the recorders were inadvertent movements or whispers from other team members in the background. For the camera moving we examined the possibility of poor placement, rodent involvement or on an unstable base to blame. Our team members listen to the audio recordings of the male and female voice. They came to the conclusion that no one on the team matched the voice patterns.

EVP Sound Pattern Analysis. Creative LabsÔ makes a dynamic voice/sound mapping computer program called Wave-Studio. Wave-Studio converts digital sound recordings into visible patterns to analyze. We downloaded the digital EVP voice patterns to a computer then used Wave-Studio to examine the waveforms. During the investigation we discovered that the investigator’s voice waveforms displayed in typical sound wave patterns while the disembodied voices of the man and woman (Adcock and Dobie) were heard but did not display.

IR Camera Moving Analysis. During the videotape review of the suspect IR Camera’s recording, investigators noticed the camera moving slowly over a thirteen-minute period. Because there was no image of the camera itself investigators used basic X and Y plotting techniques to describe the camera's movement. From a still-frame videotape, we selected an immovable object in the room shown in the video, the office doorknob. Using a piece of clear acetate film and a marker, the team overlaid the film on the video monitor screen and then plotted a horizontal X and vertical Y-axis lines from the doorknob.

Researchers watching the video monitor observed the doorknob ascended on a direct unwavering vertical axis, suggesting the camera was tilted upward from behind and sat lens down onto the desk. This movement caused the IR emitters from the camera to be blocked making the recorded image fade to black. The fact that an investigator found the camera sitting to the left of its original position suggests that after the camera was shifted forward it was then slid to the left.

The videotape recording confirmed that no one was in the office during the camera incident. During our second investigation conducted on November 9, 2007, our investigators tried to recreate the infrared camera incident by placing the camera back into its original position. The team then bumping and shook the desk. Neither test caused the camera to flip forward or shift position. Workers at the AIDS Foundation deny having rodent problems.

Finally we offered our evidence for peer review. We presented our evidence to an independent group of local paranormal investigators. The peer review panel agreed that the evidence suggested a strong probability of paranormal activity.

Aside from understanding the mechanics of how a ghost might manifest itself in our physical world, an even more interesting question is why would want to do so in the first place. During our primary survey investigation we collected two EVPs that we felt required further investigation. First, our researchers used the name ‘Adcock’ provided by the female ghost EVP recording to search for a correlation between 334 West Concho Avenue and the name Adcock. Initially we made a rush to judgment by concluding that Adcock was the name of the ghost speaking. We finally agreed that when a ghost supplies a name or word it could have multiple meanings, what some paranormal investigators call a mission ghost. The name could refer to the ghost, or to someone connected to the ghost, or someone whom the ghost feels a need to contact, or even a location the ghost wants investigated.

Adcock means little Ad or Adam, cock being a diminutive termination. Cock was applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a cock, and it soon became a generic term for a youth and was attached as a term of endearment to many male names. Our research did not discover a geographical location, street, or city near San Angelo called Adcock. We decided to investigate a connection with the surname Adcock and the house.

We conducted a search for people with the surname Adcock who lived in San Angelo between 1880 and 1930. People with the name Adcock were sparse in San Angelo between 1880 and 1930. In 1910, Wade Adcock a 31 year-old white male with his wife Arie a 23 year-old female, lived at 114 Oakes Street, about one mile northwest of the Lemons. Wade dealt in real estate. In 1930, Betty Adcock, a 49 year-old single white female, and her sister-in-law Sallie Adcock a 39 year-old white female (widow of John Adcock) resided at 2024 Oakes Street about two and one-half miles northwest of the Lemons. Betty Adcock took in laundry. Perhaps Betty or Sallie Adcock provided laundry service for the Lemons house and their lodgers.

Based on historical records our investigation found a possible connection between 334 West Concho Avenue and the name of Adcock. Our investigation did not reveal any correlation between the name of Dobie and 334 West Concho Avenue. We speculate that Dobie is a nickname since the entity residing within 334 West Concho Avenue gave the investigators only this clue.

Using a scientific approach to paranormal investigation depends on reproducing results by using original methods and environment. On November 9, 2007, an investigation team with five of the original members and two new members returned to 334 West Concho Avenue. The goal of the team was to reproduce and expand upon the evidence collected during the investigation of September 14, 2007. The team's focus was to collect more information by engaging in direct contact with the female Adcock ghost and the male energy-being nicknamed Dobie.

The two new investigators returned to the music box room where the team originally encountered the disembodied female voice. The investigator equipped with an Olympus VN 4100 PC digital recorder asked, "Who is here with us?" Ten seconds pass when a female voice replies "Olive Frank."

The investigator asks, "Do you like music?" Immediately a low female voice replies,"I'm dead."

Although in the music box room the two investigation teams captured digital audio recordings of a disembodied female voice speaking in apparent answer to direct questions, the name Adcock did not reply in response to the team inquiring if she was present. Regardless, the significance of capturing EVP of female voice patterns in the same area of the house significantly increases the probability of paranormal activity.

A second team of three investigators deployed to a hallway and office where workers reported paranormal experiences. The team equipped with an electrostatic detection device, an IR thermometer, and a digital video camera attempted to engage Adcock or Dobie. The lead team member asked if Sallie or Betty Adcock were present, the electrostatic detector activated and the team member felt a cold spot against his hand. The IR thermometer showed a decrease of 15 degrees. Video recordings over a twelve-minute encounter show a high correlation between using the name Adcock with changes in electrostatic energy and temperature fluctuations. Of note was the appearance of colored lights in the background shown within the video. The lights appear behind the investigators as they begin asking about Adcock and correlate with changes in electrostatic discharges as detected by the ESD.

A third team stationed on the stairwell landing using an Olympus VN 3100 PC digital recorder captured the sound of a male voice. One investigator using EVP protocol says, "Unless you let us know you are here, nobody will know that you exist." Immediately following the investigator saying "nobody" a male voice sounding remarkably like an old time gospel singer responds "nobody". The vocal response is haunting and very true in tone and texture to the old spiritual folk tune, "Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen Nobody knows my sorrow."

EVP Analysis. Our team used its Creative LabsÔ Wave-Studio program to analyze the digital EVP voice patterns collected during the second survey. As with the first investigation we discovered that the investigator’s voice waveforms displayed in typical sound wave patterns while the disembodied voices of the man and woman were heard but did not display. The disembodied female voice saying Olive Frank and I’m dead did not contribute much more information for further background research, but it does bolster the probability of paranormal activity. The male voice although interesting and reactive also did not contribute much more to the depth of our further investigation as to the identity of the two spirits residing at 334 West Concho Avenue.

For historical purposes we include the name Henry Frank, a 56 year-old male German immigrant who worked as the grocer at Fort Concho in 1880. This is the only reference to a person with the last name of Frank living near the house between 1880 and 1930. Future investigations, if any, may wish to consider pursuing this line of questions with their EVP work.

Discussion

The present data are congruent with paranormal activity although most people in the scientific community would argue against our conclusion. Though the second investigation did not yield the same evidence as the first, the findings clearly suggest a connection. The results finding a male and female energy in the house during separate investigations should not be discounted as coincidental. The results seem to support quantitativeness than qualitative difference.

Despite the obvious differences between the results of the two investigations, we can only conclude that human to ghost interaction at 334 West Concho Avenue appears probable. The team results seem to suggest that emotions and feelings play a larger role in paranormal research than clinical question and answer sessions. Yet without question and answer techniques it would be difficult to decide if the paranormal activity was interactive or noninteractive.

Conclusion

Research conducted on the history of 334 West Concho Avenue discovered a building rich in history and mystery. Questions yet to be answered are what happened to the Lemon family after 1930? What happened to the two Adcock women? The workers at 334 West Concho Avenue accounts of disembodied voices seem strongly supported by verifiable and repeatable results captured on audio and video mediums. There are male and female energy beings (ghost) that maintain a benevolent caretaker position within the structure. Our conclusion is that the house at 334 West Concho Avenue in San Angelo, Texas is haunted.

References

Blum, Deborah, 2006, Lights and Shadows. Ghost Hunters – William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death, pages 51 – 53. The Penguin Press, NY.

Auerbach, Loyd, 2004, In the Lab. Hauntings & Poltergeists – A Ghost Hunter’s Guide, pages 59 – 62. Ronin Publishing, Berkeley CA.

Greer, Jane, 2003, Seeing is Believing – Signs from the Spirit Realm. The Afterlife Connection. Pages 73 – 78. St. Martin’s Press, NY.

Beiser, Arthur, 2003. Electricity. Applied Physics. Pages 71 – 73. McGraw Hill, NY.

Danelek, J. Allan, 2006, The Ghost as Energy Theory. The Case for Ghosts. Pages 52 – 54. Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury MN.

Guiley, Rosemary, Electronic Voice Phenomena. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Third Edition. Pages 149 – 152. Checkmark Books, NY.

Guiley, Rosemary, Levitation. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Third Edition. Pages 179. Checkmark Books, NY.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Fort Concho, Tom Green, Texas; Roll: T9_1328; Family History Film: 1255328; Page: 395.3000; Enumeration District: 119;

Blum, D. 2006. Infinite Rationality. Ghost Hunters William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death. Page 119

Arthur, W. 1857. An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import;.; New York, NY: Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & CO.,.

Year: 1910; Census Place: San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas; Roll: T624_1592; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 281; Image: 1041.

Worley’s San Angelo City Directory, 1929-1930, page 95, John F. Worley Co., Publishers 905 Main Street, Dallas Texas. Tom Green County Library, research section.

Year: 1930; Census Place: San Angelo, Tom Green, Texas; Roll: 2400; Page: 28A; Enumeration District: 1; Image: 619.0.